Looking new Certificate of CompTIA

Liz, your posting yesterday was certainly timely, based upon a concern I raised on a current Statewide effort to eliminate the need for students to purchase textbooks, in something called the Open Educational Resources (OER) project. There are challenges in this effort, and currently under discussion is how do we deal with the Security+ course (our common ID number is ITIS160). My response to this discussion is below. I'd appreciate your thoughts as to the dates I've indicated for exam retirement and the availability of the draft new exam objectives. I'd also appreciate the thoughts of CIN participants relative to whether OER has a place in teaching in this fast pace changing environment.
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Based on the discussion on Basecamp, concerns are being expressed relative to the Security+ (ITIS 160) class learning resources. I wanted to throw in my $0.02, based upon teaching and authoring experience. As noted in an article I wrote for Certification Magazine:
"The lesson learned as a result of this effort was that making money as a textbook author, where the book’s subject matter is technology on a rapid pathway towards change, may not be the sort of activity worth pursuing."

Mentioned in an email I sent earlier today, was the fact that with the assistance of a content development team consisting of two full-time faculty members and a high school teacher, we were able to develop learning content for the CompTIA ITF+ exam objectives that was completed in June. Given the previous version of the exam was available in 2014 and had a shelf life of 5 years before its retirement, I felt is appropriate to build this content for the new exam at a total cost of around $18,000 in terms of faculty stipends.

Before considering the development of learning content that relates to the objectives for the current Security+ certification exam (SY0-501), it makes sense to look at how long it will be before its retirement. That date is estimated from one source as Spring 2021. Based on what I've heard and also what I've experienced in the past, I expect the draft exam objectives for the SY0-601 to be released this upcoming spring. So it probably makes sense to hold off any content development until its release.